Breaking The Tradition
by DMarieLara
Summary: After watching an episode of 1girl 5gays, I got the idea of bullying as my topic for an essay in english. I'm horrible at summaries, so just read and review please.


This is a story I wrote for my english class. I hope you like it. Reviews are welcome(:

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><p><strong>Breaking the Tradition<strong>

A teenage boy—just turned fifteen—enters his first year of high school. He's nervous as hell and doesn't know what to expect. He walks to the bus stop of his new neighborhood in a new town. Flashbacks of middle school haunt him, the bullying and name-calling. He hopes this school will be more accepting of him than the last one. He boards the bus and sees unfamiliar faces staring at his clothes and hair and whispering to each other. The familiar empty feeling in his stomach returns and he senses himself turning inward. I see my old self in his body language: head down, body hunched over, and hands shoved in his pockets. The bus arrives at school and everyone gets off except him. He just sits, waiting for the other kids to file out. I stand and wait for him. I introduce myself and I notice the flinch that follows. He's scared because he thinks I'm one of them. He's terrified I'm going to judge and hurt him, call him names like "Fag" or "Homo," so he keeps his head down. He doesn't know that not too long ago I was just like him, thinking everyone was judging me. I put my hand on his shoulder and tell him one thing, "It's okay." He looks up and I can see most of the fear in his eyes dissolve. He knows now that there is at least one person in this new place who accepts him. He realizes that he's not alone because, even if there are those types of kids at this new school, there are also ones who will accept him for who he is and may even be going through a similar dilemma.

Bullying is a worldwide problem in schools because it's either not taken seriously or not cared for at all. One expert defines bullying as "aggressive behavior that involves an imbalance in power or strength" (Olweus). The imbalance could occur between two kids, a kid and an adult, or even sometimes between two adults. Just like the imbalances of power, there are many types of bullying―some obvious, some not. Dan Olweus, creator of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program, classifies bullying as verbal, social exclusion, physical, racial, sexual, and cyber. These types of bullying are particularly troublesome in schools because too often they are tolerated. For example, a new girl walks into class and everyone looks at her. Right away they're all judging whether they want to talk to her or not based on how she looks. She may dress differently than them which can cause them to think she's weird and exclude her. Teachers can't really pay attention or point out when it's happening. They may not even realize this is considered bullying because their definition of bullying is the typical schoolyard troubles. Situations like this may not seem major enough to define as bullying and take action but this is bullying, no matter how insignificant it may seem.

Bullying isn't just a new problem that grew mysteriously from the ground. It's been around practically forever, lurking and causing harm. Deborah Carpenter and Christopher J. Ferguson, authors of "History of Bullying", talk about how bullying in the past had been seen as "a harmless rite of passage". They explain that the name-calling, rejection, pushing, and isolation were seen as normal, as just a part of being a kid. How are all of these negative behaviors a part of being a kid? This is saying that the stereotypical image of bullies should be harassing and being mean to other kids while the victim's should be thankful that they're being bullied because it's helping them become accepted in society. Is this what we should have in mind as a part of adolescence? For me bullying wasn't a part of growing up. I wasn't glad that I was bullied because I thought it would make me fit in later on in life. None of those cliché myths happened to me. Kids bullied me because they were mean, plain and simple. They weren't helping me out. They weren't trying to make me fit in. They were mean to me because I was different and they either didn't like it or didn't understand it. There was nothing wrong with me.

The Recent history such as teens committing suicide because of bullying shows that it's gotten extremely worse. Years ago, the bully monster would show up occasionally; nowadays it seems like that foul beast is everywhere. Recent statistics show that suicide rates of teens who have been victims of bullies are extremely high. Experts say that high school student's suicides around the U.S have occurred as the result of being picked on because of sexual orientation or weight (Bullying Statistics). Society may not want admit that bullying has become a major problem in these past years but I think it's about time we do.

Many factors could cause someone to become a bully. There are even bullies who don't realize that they're bullying someone. In her article, "Causes of Bullying," Karen Hollowell gives examples of causes such as a desire for attention that bullies may not be getting at home, influence of media ─television, video games, websites, and popular music─ and a desire for control that may be taken away from them by someone else. Another reason why kids bully is because, most of the time, they don't even identify that what they're doing is bullying. They are simply not as aware as they should be of the problem. In an interview I conducted with a teacher at Pueblo, the question of why kids bully each other was asked and their response was, "Bullying is everywhere and kind of expected so when it happens, it's seen as normal." How can someone that sees this kind of behavior throughout their society identify it as bullying when, to them, it's perfectly normal? How are bullies supposed to know that what they're doing is wrong when they see it happening around them everyday? They grow accustomed to their environment and bullying is programmed in their mind as accepted and even expected.

Effects of bullying can vary because some may use what happened to them as a positive experience for their life and others may not see it the same. According to Deborah Carpenter and Christopher J. Ferguson, the short term effects of bullying are anger, frustration, anxiety, learned helplessness—a psychological state where people feel powerless to change their self or situation—and depression while, over the long term, a person who has been bullied can either get over it and grow or be emotionally and psychologically damaged. A victim can have anger when they get fed up with their situation. This can be a negative thing because it could lead to irrational thought and action. The Virginia Tech shooting would be a cause of anger due to bullying. Seung-Hui Cho, a student at Virginia Tech and the gunman in this horrible situation, was bullied when he was in high school. The author of the article "Seung-Hui Cho biography" says, "He was picked on as a child and was described by his professors as a troubled loner." Shouldn't these facts have raised suspicions of something wrong? Adults are always saying how kids that are different and weird need help, right? How come the authority figures in his life didn't help him? They obviously saw signs that he was disturbed. Did no one care that maybe he needed psychological help? Maybe if his professors or parents helped him, the Virginia Tech massacre would have never happened. He is just one of the many examples of how anger can affect the victim of bullying.

The solution to bullying is enforcing the "No Bullying" policy more. The solution to bullying is to have harsher punishments for the bullies. The solution for bullying is for schools to take it more seriously. All of these are the most common answers when asked what the solution for bullying is. Is there really a solution? A writer with the Daily Sundial says, "We, as a species, continue to address the same issues generation-after-generation without creating a solution. [...] Bullying, or teasing as we used to refer it, is a part of human nature" (In Search of the Solution to Bullying) If bullying is just embedded in our brains and culture, how can there be a solution to stop it? Bullying is like racism and discrimination in the sense that we have no solution for those either. How can we solve a problem like racism that's been going on for many years, and is still going on today? How can society solve a problem like discrimination when people are so close-minded? How is anyone supposed to diagnose a solution to a problem that's so complex and growing rapidly every day?

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><p>So, yeah. This is it. Hope everyone liked it. Thank you for reading and don't forget to review.<p> 


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